Investigation of factors affecting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among communities of universities in the United Arab Emirates.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of people living across the world and the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be one of the most promising solutions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. In several countries, we are witnessing hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines, which is a complex phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors. A cross-sectional study was performed to comprehensively investigate the impact of factors like demography, COVID-19 pandemic-induced behavior, and vaccine attitude on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (VA) among communities of five different universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To investigate the effect of demography and COVID-19 pandemic-induced behavioral factors, Analysis of Variance was perfomed. The effect of COVID-19 vaccine attitudes on COVID-19 VA was examined through partial least squares-structural equations modeling. The results of the study showed no difference among the population in accepting COVID-19 vaccines due to their demographic factors. The effect of pandemic-induced behavioral factors on COVID-19 VA suggested that the people of UAE accepted COVID-19 vaccines irrespective of the movement and travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. The results on the effect of vaccine attitudes on COVID-19 VA showed that vaccine benefit attitudes, safety concerns, and trust in health-care professionals (TrHP) were found to be significant factors in VA. Furthermore, TrHP was found to reduce the negative effect of safety concerns related to COVID-19 VA. The findings broadly highlight that COVID-19 VA in the UAE was not hampered by demographic factors and the pandemic-induced behavioral constraints. The study also showed that people with co-morbidities had lower level of COVID-19 VA than people with no co-morbidities. To improve COVID-19 VA, the perceived benefits with COVID-19 vaccine and TrHP must be enhanced and simultaneously safety concerns of the vaccines need to be addressed.

Changes in the Invasion Rate of Prosopis juliflora and Its Impact on Depletion of Groundwater in the Northern Part of the United Arab Emirates.

Prosopis species were introduced to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region for desert greening. However, the species now pose a great threat to the native plant diversity. This study used high-resolution satellite imagery (1990-2019) to understand the history and current distribution of Prosopis species and their impact on fresh groundwater. The results show that the Prosopis invasion in the study area reached its maximum expansion rate in 2019 and covered an area of about 16 km2 compared to 0.2 km2 in 1990. The areas near Sharjah Airport, Umm Fannan, and Al Talla, located at a lower elevation of the sand dune area, are heavily invaded. Prosopis groundwater requirement derived using evapotranspiration shows that groundwater consumption has changed drastically after 2010 and consumed about 22.22 million m3 of groundwater in 2019, which is about a 7372% increase in groundwater consumption from the year 1990 to 2019. The results can be useful for setting up a management plan for the sustainable use of this species in the UAE region in particular and other similar countries in the arid land regions that are suffering from freshwater depletion because of Prosopis invasion.

Utilization of the UAE date palm leaf biochar in carbon dioxide capture and sequestration processes.

This paper evaluates the potential use of date palm leaf biochar as a climate change solution through CO2 capture and sequestration. The pyrolysis of date palm leaf was performed at different temperatures 300°, 400°, 500°, and 600 °C. The physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized biochar were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Direct gas-solid interaction was carried out in an integrated Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR), connected with a gas analyzer for maximum and effective mixing between the biochar and CO2. LabView program was used as data acquisition for an instantaneous calculation of CO2 adsorption. This study showed that the date palm biochar as porous carbon-based materials has high CO2 adsorption capacity through physisorption and chemisorption progressions. The adsorption results showed a maximum CO2 capture percentage of 0.09 kg CO2/kg, 0.15 kg CO2/kg, 0.20 kg CO2/kg, and 0.25 kg CO2/kg palm biochar synthesized at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C, respectively. This paper paid attention to the inexpensive technology applied in CO2 sequestration, where fluidization provides well mixing of biochar particles with low operation cost.

Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE).

The Liwa area is a primary food production area in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has intensively been used for agriculture. This study investigates the pollution levels with heavy metals in agricultural soils from the Liwa area. Thirty-two soil samples were analyzed for Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Co, and As. Results revealed that heavy metal levels varied in the ranges 220.02-311.21, 42.39-66.92, 43.43-71.55, 32.86-52.12, 10.29-21.70, 2.83-8.84, 0.46-0.69, 0.03-0.37 mg/kg for Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Co, and As, respectively. All samples presented low As concentrations with an average of 0.01 mg/kg. The variations in bulk metal contents in the soil samples were related to multiple sources, including agrochemicals, atmospheric dust containing heavy metals, and traffic-related metals. Enrichment factor analysis indicates that Cd, Ni, Zn, and Cr were highly enriched in soils, and they could originate from non-crustal sources. Based on the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), the soil samples appeared uncontaminated with Mn, Cr, Zn, Pb, Co, As, Cu, uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with Ni and moderately contaminated with Cd. The contamination factors suggest low contamination, except for Ni, which showed moderate contamination. The average pollution load index (PLI) revealed unpolluted to low pollution of all soil samples. The ecological risk assessment (PERI) showed that all heavy metals posed a low risk, except for Cd which exhibited a high ecological risk.

Integrated Framework of the Immune-Defense Transcriptional Signatures in the Arabidopsis Shoot Apical Meristem.

The growing tips of plants grow sterile; therefore, disease-free plants can be generated from them. How plants safeguard growing apices from pathogen infection is still a mystery. The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is one of the three stem cells niches that give rise to the above ground plant organs. This is very well explored; however, how signaling networks orchestrate immune responses against pathogen infections in the SAM remains unclear. To reconstruct a transcriptional framework of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) pertaining to various SAM cellular populations, we acquired large-scale transcriptome datasets from the public repository Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We identify here distinct sets of genes for various SAM cellular populations that are enriched in immune functions, such as immune defense, pathogen infection, biotic stress, and response to salicylic acid and jasmonic acid and their biosynthetic pathways in the SAM. We further linked those immune genes to their respective proteins and identify interactions among them by mapping a transcriptome-guided SAM-interactome. Furthermore, we compared stem-cells regulated transcriptome with innate immune responses in plants showing transcriptional separation among their DEGs in Arabidopsis. Besides unleashing a repertoire of immune-related genes in the SAM, our analysis provides a SAM-interactome that will help the community in designing functional experiments to study the specific defense dynamics of the SAM-cellular populations. Moreover, our study promotes the essence of large-scale omics data re-analysis, allowing a fresh look at the SAM-cellular transcriptome repurposing data-sets for new questions.

Integrated structural and functional analysis of the protective effects of kinetin against oxidative stress in mammalian cellular systems.

Metabolism and signaling of cytokinins was first established in plants, followed by cytokinin discoveries in all kingdoms of life. However, understanding of their role in mammalian cells is still scarce. Kinetin is a cytokinin that mitigates the effects of oxidative stress in mammalian cells. The effective concentrations of exogenously applied kinetin in invoking various cellular responses are not well standardized. Likewise, the metabolism of kinetin and its cellular targets within the mammalian cells are still not well studied. Applying vitality tests as well as comet assays under normal and hyper-oxidative states, our analysis suggests that kinetin concentrations of 500 nM and above cause cytotoxicity as well as genotoxicity in various cell types. However, concentrations below 100 nM do not cause any toxicity, rather in this range kinetin counteracts oxidative burst and cytotoxicity. We focus here on these effects. To get insights into the cellular targets of kinetin mediating these pro-survival functions and protective effects we applied structural and computational approaches on two previously testified targets for these effects. Our analysis deciphers vital residues in adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) and adenosine receptor (A2A-R) that facilitate the binding of kinetin to these two important human cellular proteins. We finally discuss how the therapeutic potential of kinetin against oxidative stress helps in various pathophysiological conditions.

Baseline marine investigation and impact of fish farming on the marine environment in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Scattered seashells were observed on the seabed with no marine corals. The baseline studies indicate that biodiversity decreased from the northeast to southwest direction. The dominant groups of phytoplankton were diatoms followed by dinoflagellates, with insignificant vertical variations in species composition and population due to shallow water. The benthic diversity over the majority of the study area was relatively low compared with other nearshore areas in the region. All subtidal habitats showed evidence of disturbance to varying degrees, with no fish species recorded at these locations. The soft sediment habitat was found to cover much of the area footprint, and faunal diversity was very low. Fish diversity and abundance were equally poor with only a few demersal species recorded. No evidence of coral colonization was recorded although the presence of a low-profile, encrusting species was recorded in close proximity, to the east of the study area. Mangrove, coral, and seagrass were absent in the study area and its immediate vicinity. Modelling of waste plume suggested that the harbor water is fairly well-mixed, and the dispersion of ammonia attenuates with distance.

Molecular Modeling of the Interaction Between Stem Cell Peptide and Immune Receptor in Plants.

Molecular docking enables comprehensive exploration of interactions between chemical moieties and proteins. Modeling and docking approaches are useful to determine the three-dimensional (3D) structure of experimentally uncrystallized proteins and subsequently their interactions with various inhibitors and activators or peptides. Here, we describe a protocol for carrying out molecular modeling and docking of stem cell peptide CLV3p on plant innate immune receptor FLS2.

Mapping a Transcriptome-Guided Arabidopsis SAM Interactome.

The advent of multi-OMICS approaches has a significant impact on the investigation of biological processes occurring in plants. RNA-SEQ, cellular proteomics, and metabolomics have added a considerable ease in studying the dynamics of stem cell niches. New cell sorting approaches coupled with the labeling of stem cell population specific marker genes are highly instrumental in enriching distinct cellular populations for various types of analysis. One more promising field of OMICS is the mapping of cellular interactomes. The plant stem cells research is barely profited from this newly emerging field of OMICS. Generation of stem cell/niche-specific interactome is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Here, we describe a method on how to assemble a SAM-based interactome after using the available generic Arabidopsis interactomes. To define the context of SAM in a generic interactome, we used SAM cell population transcriptome datasets. Our step-by-step protocol can easily be adopted for other stem cell niches such as RAM and lateral meristems keeping in view the availability of transcriptome datasets for cellular populations of these niches.

Long-term trends in ambient fine particulate matter from 1980 to 2016 in United Arab Emirates.

This paper presents the most comprehensive datasets of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the UAE from 1980 to 2016. The long-term distributions of PM2.5 showed the annual average PM2.5 concentrations constantly exceeded the EPA and WHO guidelines. They varied from 77 to 49 µg/m3 with an overall average of 61.25 µg/m3. While the inter-annual variability in PM2.5 concentrations showed relatively a cyclic pattern, with successive ups and downs, it broadly exhibited an increasing trend, particularly, over the last 14 years. PM2.5 concentrations displayed a strong seasonal pattern, with greatest values observed during warm summer season, a period of high demand of electricity and dust events. The lowest values found in autumn are attributable to reduced demand of energy. Decreased atmospheric temperatures and high relative humidity coinciding with this period are likely to reduce the secondary formation of PM2.5. The spatial changes in PM2.5 concentrations exhibited gradual downward trends to the north and northeast directions. Airborne PM2.5 is prevalent in the southern and western regions, where the majority of oil and gas fields are located. PM2.5/PM10 ratio indicated that ambient aerosols are principally associated with anthropogenic sources. Peaks in PM2.5/CO ratio were frequently observed during June, July, and August, although few were concurrent with March. This indicates that secondary formation plays an important role in PM2.5 levels measured in these months, especially as the photochemical activities become relatively strong in these periods. The lowest PM2.5/CO ratios were found during September, October, and November (autumn) suggesting a considerable contribution of primary combustion emissions, especially vehicular emissions, to PM2.5 concentration. PM2.5 concentrations are positively correlated with sulfate levels. In addition to sea and dust aerosols, sulfate concentration in the coastal region is also related to fossil fuel burning from power plants, oil and gas fields, and oil industries. The population-weighted average of PM2.5 in UAE was 63.9 µg/m3, which is more than three times greater than the global population-weighted mean of 20 µg/m3.

Hapke-based computational method to enable unmixing of hyperspectral data of common salts.

Environmental scientists are currently assessing the ability of hyper-spectral remote sensing to detect, identify, and analyze natural components, including minerals, rocks, vegetation and soil. This paper discusses the use of a nonlinear reflectance model to distinguish multicomponent particulate mixtures. Analysis of the data presented in this paper shows that, although the identity of the components can often be found from diagnostic wavelengths of absorption bands, the quantitative abundance determination requires knowledge of the complex refractive indices and average particle scattering albedo, phase function and size. The present study developed a method for spectrally unmixing halite and gypsum combinations. Using the known refractive indexes of the components, and with the assistance of Hapke theory and Legendre polynomials, the authors develop a method to find the component particle sizes and mixing coefficients for blends of halite and gypsum. Material factors in the method include phase function parameters, bidirectional reflectance, imaginary index, grain sizes, and iterative polynomial fitting. The obtained Hapke parameters from the best-fit approach were comparable to those reported in the literature. After the optical constants (n, the so-called real index of refraction and k, the coefficient of the imaginary index of refraction) are derived, and the geometric parameters are determined, single-scattering albedo (or ω) can be calculated and spectral unmixing becomes possible.

Distribution of heavy metals around the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates.

Inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy was used to measure the concentrations of heavy metals in 58 samples collected from the Barakah nuclear power plant (BNPP) area, UAE. The grain size distribution was symmetric, but the samples ranged from fine to coarse sand. The inverse relationship between grain size and heavy metal contaminations was validated. The pre-operational average heavy metal contaminations around the BNPP were 0.03, 0.40, 1.2, 2.05, 1.66, 1.6, 5.9, 7.3, 7, 8.8, 60, and 2521 ppm for Cd, Mo, Co, Cu, Pb, As, Zn, Ni, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively. The spatial distribution was more compact in the south compared to the north, with less severe contaminations in the east and west. The negative geoaccumulation indices suggest an uncontaminated area, and the BNPP has minor enrichments. All concentrations were significantly below the safe limits set by the Dutch guidelines. The levels of heavy metals reported in the UAE were lower than levels reported in countries around the world.

Distribution of heavy metals in the coastal area of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Fifty-seven sediment samples were collected from Abu Dhabi coastal area, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The concentrations of heavy metals including antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, mercury, lead, molybdenum, nickel and zinc were obtained using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and X-ray fluorescence. Heavy metal contaminations in Abu Dhabi had increased since 2004. Nevertheless, the enrichment factors, geoaccumulation indices and the pollution load index of 0.3 showed no pollution with any of the measured metals except arsenic.

Evaporation losses and dispersion of volatile organic compounds from tank farms.

The present study is an application of a Gaussian dispersion model to evaluate volatilization losses from tank farms. It reports methodology to estimate evaporation losses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from organic liquid in storage tanks. This study used fixed roof and floating roof equations for breathing and working losses. Total loss, the breathing loss, vapor pressure, molecular weight of the product, tank diameter, diurnal temperature, paint factor, tank capacity, and number of turnovers were considered and factored in the calculation. AERMOD and ALOHA softwares were used to simulate the dispersion of VOCs under normal and accidental scenarios. For the modeling purposes, meteorological data such as annual average ambient temperature, annual average atmospheric pressure, daily minimum ambient temperature, daily maximum ambient temperature, solar insulation factor, and average wind speed were included as input in the calculation and modeling activities. The study took place in Sharjah Emirate in United Arab Emirates, which borders Dubai to the south and Ajman to the north, and the three form a conurbation. The reported method was used to estimate evaporation losses for baseline and hypothetical leak scenarios. Results of this research show that liquid storage tanks in the study area emit a low concentration of VOC under the studied and assumed conditions, e.g., new tanks with high performance sealing as well as the noted earlier climatic conditions. The dispersion of those concentrations is controlled by the prevailing wind direction. The predicted VOCs concentrations were within the range of the measured VOCs values in air. The study found that the spatial distributions of the predicted concentration attenuate with time and distance. Under the reported accidental spill scenario, the Gaussian model indicates that the danger area starts within the zone of less than 10 m. The danger area is subjected to flame pockets, and the VOC concentrations in this area will exceed 19,800 ppm.

Distribution of heavy metal concentrations in surface sediments in Dubai Creeks, United Arab Emirates.

Dubai is developing rapidly and many developmental activities are concentrated around its Creek. The present study reports the lateral distribution of heavy metals and compares it with local historical record of heavy metal concentrations. For this purpose surface sediment samples were collected and analyzed for metal contents, total organic carbon content (TOC), mineralogy and grain size. The percentages of the different grain size fraction of the collected sediments were as follow 65% for sand size, 15% for silt size fraction, and the rest accounted for clay size fraction. The microscopic analyses indicate that the sediment composed mainly from carbonate and quartz with traces of rock fragments. Such mineral composition is not believed to be a potential source of heavy metal. The study found that the average recorded heavy metal concentrations in the collected sediment samples were 87, 96, 127, 38.5, and 279 ppm for Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, respectively. Those values were slightly higher than metal concentrations recoded in 2001 with 1.22 (Cr), 2.5 (Cu), 2.87 (Ni), 0.69 (Pb), and 2.1 (Zn) folds. However, in 2001 and 2003 the measured metal contents, along the creek, were lower than those of the average earth crust. Along the Creek most metals recorded the highest concentrations in the upper reach of the Creek. The distribution of the measured heavy metals was not affected significantly with the TOC values. The present study also documented obvious related point sources of pollution.

Chemical and environmental implications of visible and near-infrared spectral features of salt crusts formed from different brines.

This work describes a laboratory experiment intended to study the formation and spectral reflectance properties of stratified salt crusts that cause severe environmental degradations to soil and water resources in arid regions. Salt crusts were prepared by evaporating three types of saline solutions consisting of i) NaCl - Na2SO4, ii) Na2SO4 - MgSO4, and iii) NaCl - MgSO4 at an initial concentrations of 50 mmol L(-1). They were examined for evaporite mineralogy using X-ray diffraction, optical and reflected microscopes, and for spectral reflectance with a high-resolution spectroradiometer (GER 3700) in the visible and near-infrared regions (400-2500 nm). The study documented chemical and environmental implications of the spectral properties of salt formed from the studied saline-systems. The reported results can be used to understand remotely sensed signatures of salt crusts and their implications.